Robert Gardelle

Gardelle was born on 6 April 1682 in Geneva, Republic of Geneva, into a family of goldsmiths, painters, miniaturists, and enamellers. He was the son of Robert, a goldsmith, and Catherine Perrot, a great-granddaughter of the Huguenot minister Charles Perrot. Gardelle moved to Germany around 1702, likely after training as an artist in Geneva. He first settled in Kassel, under the patronage of Baron Gustav von Mardefeld, along with his older brother, Daniel, a miniaturist by trade. The brothers later stayed together in Berlin, where they executed a copy of a portrait of Charles XII of Sweden, which they donated to the Geneva Public Library. At the Library's request, they also copied the portrait of Erasmus painted by Hans Holbein the Younger upon their return to Kassel around 1710. Around the same time, Gardelle painted a portrait of the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel on his own, probably from life. In 1712, Gardelle married Sara Mussard in Geneva, with whom he had three children. Around 1714, he settled in Paris, where he studied for about a year in the studio of portrait painter Nicolas de Largillière, whose works he copied. There he met the miniaturist Jacques-Antoine Arlaud, a fellow Genevan. Returning to Geneva in 1715 and now a renowned portraitist, Gardelle was invited to work in Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Bern. He also painted landscapes, including four panoramic views of Geneva for Arlaud (who later bequeathed them to the Public Library), and engraved several of his own works. Gardelle died on 7 March 1766 in Geneva, following a bad fall, at the age of 84.

• Illustration — Albrecht Friedrich von Erlach, 1721 • Illustration — Frederick II of Hesse-Kassel, 1734 • Illustration — Jean-Louis Calandrini, c. 1760 • Illustration — Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, c. 1760 • Illustration — Michel Lullin de Châteauvieux • Illustration — Jean-Robert Chouet • Illustration — Pierre Fatio • Illustration — Vinzenz Stürler • Illustration — Samuel Frisching III